Loose-leaf book.



7 0 9 1 0 1 C E D D E T N E T A P, -K m B F m WL ME 8 m L O 1 O0 7 8 0 N APPLICATION FILED OCT.16, 1906. RENEWED SEPT. 24, 1907.

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PATENTED DEC. 10, 1907.

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THE NORRIS PETERS co., WAsr-nNc'rvN, b. c:v

UNITED STATES HERBERT M. STURGIS, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

LOOSE-LEAF BOOK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 10, 1907.

Application filed October 161 I906, Serial No. 339.160. Renewed Septemberlz. 1907- Serial No. 394,412.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT M. STURGIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Loose-Leaf Books, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to loose leaf books of that class in which the leaf-holding rings are held open or closed with a yielding pressure and my object is to' produce a device of this character in which the anchoring elements may be bound to the cover and the leaf holding elements be subsequently connected thereto easily and quickly and also be removed therefrom if desired.

A further object is to produce bars to which the hooks can be easily and quickly secured so firmly and reliably as to be incapable of working loose under any strain to which the book may be subjected by a fall or from opening or closing the rings.

A still further object is to produce a loose leaf book which will operate efficiently and reliably, is of ornamental and attractive appearance and can be manufactured economically.

With these general objects in view andothers as hereinafter appear the invention consists in certain novel and peculiar fea tures of construction and organization as hereinafter described and claimed; and in order that it may be fully understood reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1, is a sectional perspective view of a loose-leaf book when open and with the leaves omitted. Fig. 2, is a detail perspective view of the anchor plate. Fig. 3, is an enlarged cross section taken on the line IIIIII of Fig. 1. Fig. 4, is a similar view with the rings open and the cover and anchoring elements omitted. Fig. 5, is a sectional perspective view of one of the hookcarrying bars with the hooks omitted. Fig. 6, is a sectional perspective view of one of the hooks. Fig. 7, is a detail perspective view of one of the springs. Fig. 8, is a sectional view of a modified form of hook-carrying bar. Fig. 9, is a cross section of the hookcarrying bars with the hooks omitted, and showing a pin and slot connection between the bars to insure synchronous movement thereof. Fig. 10, is a side view of a semi-el liptic or modified form of spring.

In the said drawings, where like reference numerals identify corresponding parts, 1 indicates an anchor plate of segmental form in cross section and rounded by preference at its ends and near the latter slit inwardly at opposite points as at 2 so that the rounded ends may be bent vertically upward to form end walls 3, which end walls are preferably provided with holes 4.

5 indicates a pair of elliptic springs corresponding by preference in size and contour to the end walls 3 andprovided in their ends by preference with holes 6, rivets 7 being secured in the holes 4 and 6 to secure the springs reliably to the inner sides of said end; walls, the rivets fitting loosely in either the end walls or the springs in order to permit the latter to expand and contract.

8-8 indicate a pair offlattened tubular bars which conjointly are about equal in width to the length of the elliptic-spring openings, and each of said bars are of length to project at their ends into said openings, the said projecting ends of the bars being preferably of reduced thickness as at 9 with their outer ends referably rounded as at 10 so as to fit snug ly and find journals in the opposite extremities of the openings of said sprmgs.

1112 indicate segmental hooks of the type common in loose leaf books, their free or upper ends being adapted to interlock together to form complete rings. Their opposite ends extend into the tubular bars through openings 13 in their upper walls as in the preferred construction, or in their outer edges as in the modified form of bar shown by Fig. 8. The inner ends of said hooks are preferably reduced to form substantially rectangular tongues 15 to fit nonrotatably in correspondingly shaped holes 14 in the inner walls or edges of the tubular bars and be riveted therein so as to guard against dislocation. By this construction I provide hook-carrying bars in which it is absolutely impossible for the hooks to have any lateral play or movement and whichare so stiff and rigid throughout that any outward pull or pressure applied on one pair of hooks is distributed upon all of them so that it is impossible for one pair of hooks to move slightly apart without all partaking of such movement in equal degree. In all otherdevices of this class of which I have knowledge the bars 8 are of flat thin metal and on any outward pull applied on either of the end sets of hooks will yield or twist slightly and permit said hooks to open a little before the hooks at the opposite end or the intermediate hooks will move. As a result of this leaves of the books equipped with such devices occasionally become loose at one end and are therefore more apt to be torn in the ordinary handling of the book.

In assembling the parts of the book the companion hooks are fitted together at their tendency of the springs to contract transversely or in their direction of their greatest length holding the hooks yieldingly interlocked at their upper ends and with the inner upper corners of the bars in engagement IVhen therings are opened by pulling outward upon a pair of the oppositely disposed hooks, said upper corners, in the upward rocking movement of the bars, elongate the springs in the direction of their length and as said engaging corners pass above the horizontal plane of the bearing edges 10 the spring contracts in the direction of its length until the inner walls or edges of the tubular bars come squarely together as shown in Fig. 4, in which position they are held by the retractile tendency of the springs, and in this connection it will .be noted that because of the depth of the inner edges or walls, the upward and downward movements of the bars is synchronous, though if desired suitable means may be provided for slidingly locking said bars at their inner edges, one exemplification of such means being shown in Fig. 9, where it. will be noticed the inner edge of one bar is provided with a slot 16 and the correspondingedge of the other with a pin or tongue 17 slidingly engaging said slot.

The anchor plate can be secured to the cover A in any suitable manner, the preferred method being to place a strip of cloth or equivalent material 18 upon the middle of the cover, then place thereon a metal plate 19 segmental in cross section and provided at its side margins with inwardly disposed and upwardly projecting hooks 20, and next stretch loosely over said last-named plate the binder strip 2]. of thin flexible leather or cloth and secure the opposite edges of said binder strip to the inner sides of the cover in the usual or any preferred manner. The anchor plate is then by preference placed upon the binder strip and pressure is applied to spring or slip it into engagement with the hooks 20, the binding strip being of course interposed between the anchor plate and the hook-equipped plate. When the anchor plate is thus secured the hooks 20 are pressed or crimped downward to effect a permanent union with said plate. It is preferred that the anchor plate be bound to the cover beery and that the remaining elements may be subsequently secured to the anchor plate easily, quickly and cheaply. The book will be provided with the usual perforated leaves,

not shown, to be placed upon or removed from the hooks in the usual manner.

In Fig. 10, I show a modified form of spring, the same being a semi-elliptic spring 22 which in all essential particulars comprises the upper half of one of the springs 5, the cavities 23 forming the bearing points for the bearing edges 10 of the reduced ends 9 of the tubular bars 8.- The spring is also provided with holes 24 to receive the rivets 7 or equivalent devices for securing it to the end walls 3 of the anchor plate.

From. the above description it will be apparent that I have produced a loose leaf book possessing the features of advantage enumerated as desirable and which obviously may be modified in various particulars with.- out departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims;

Having thus described the invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is

1. In a loose leaf book, a tubular bar hav ing a pair of openings, and a hook extending through one of said openings into said bar and riveted in the other opening.

2. In a loose leaf book, a flattened tubular bar provided with openings one of which has its base end reduced and fitting non-rotata bly and riveted in said angular opening.

3. In a loose leaf book, a pair of hook-carrying bars, an integrally formed elliptic spring inclosing one end of the hook-carrying bars, and a similar spring inclosing the other end of the hook-carrying bars, the opposite ends of the elliptic openings of said springs forming bearings for the outer edges of the inclosed portions of the bars and holding said bars yieldingly together at their inner edges with the upper ends of the hooks apart or with the upper ends of the hooks together and the inner upper edges of the bars together and disposed below the plane of their outer edges.

4. In a loose leaf book, an anchor plate of segmental form in cross section and provided with upwardly projecting end walls, springs fitting and secured against the inner sides of the end. walls, bars having their ends projecting into the openings of said springs and pressed by the latter yieldingly together, and

sets of hooks rigidly secured to and projecting upwardly above said bars and adapted to be held yieldingly together or apart by the contractile pressure of the springs on the bars.

5. In a loose leaf booki, a pair of bars e ui ed withhooks, curve s ri sengaging tl ie O IIllZGI ed es of the ends 0? s a i d bars and pressing the latter yieldinglytogether, an anchor plate below the bars and provided at its ends with walls projecting upwardly at the outer sides of said sprin s, and means for fastening the latter to said walls without preventing said springs from exerting continuously a yielding inward pressure on the bars.

6. In aloose leaf book, a pair of bars equippe d with hooks, curved springs engagin the outer edges of the ends of said bars an pressing the latter yieldingly together, an anchor plate below the bars and provided at its ends with walls projecting upwardly at the outer sides of said springs, and means for fastening the latter to said walls Without preventing said springs from exerting continuously a yielding pressure on the bars, in combination with a plate underlying the anchor plate and provided with hooks extending upward and inward around and over the side edges of said plate, a cover, and a binder strip hooked around and in said hooks and interposed and clamped between the same and the anchor plate and secured at opposite sides of said plates to the cover.

7. In a loose leaf book, a cover, a plate secured to the cover and provided with upwardly projecting and inwardly disposed hooks at its sides, a binder strip secured at opposite sides to the inner side of the cover and hooked around and within said hooks and resting upon said plate, and an anchor plate upon said binder strip and having its side edges projecting into the hooks with the binder strip interposed and clamped tightly between them.

8. In a loose leaf book, a cover, a plate secured to the cover and provided with upwardly projecting and inwardly disposed hooks at its sides, a binder strip secured at opposite sides to the inner side of the cover and hooked around and within said hooks and resting upon said plate, an anchor plate upon said binder strip and having its side edges projecting into the hooks with the binder strip interposed and clamped tightly between them, a pair of curved springs carried by and at opposite ends of the anchor plate, and a pair of hook-carrying bars pressed yieldingly together by said springs with the upper ends of their hooks together or apart.

9. In a loose leaf book, a pair of tubular bars pressed yieldingly together, one of the bars having a slot in its inner edge and the other a tongue projecting from its inner edge through said slot and adapted to slide thereln when'the bars are rocked in a vertical plane.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

HERBERT M. STURGIS. 

